Celtic’s win against Dundee United was the definition of one-way traffic.
In the opening act of the third coming of Martin O’Neill, Celtic looked back to themselves as they put four past the Tannadice side.
Two excellent goals from Yang Hyun-Jun and Arne Engels marked a thoroughly enjoyable first half, before Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda put the champions out of sight.
Jim Goodwin can’t have any complaints about the outcome on the day, given the extent to which his team were outplayed.
But he has commented on one Celtic man’s tackle in the game, saying it was ‘out of control’.
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Jim Goodwin on Celtic man’s tackle in Dundee United hammering
It was a first Celtic start for Julian Araujo, as he slotted in at right-back as the Hoops returned to a back four.
The only blemish on his assured performance was a clumsy tackle on Will Ferry in the first-half, which led to a yellow card.
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But Goodwin felt that the tackle was punishable by VAR, if it hadn’t ‘skimmed over’ the tackle.
He said: “I thought the Celtic defender was a little out of control if I am honest.
“Will Ferry took a real sore one. VAR seemed to skim over it pretty quickly, I don’t think there was a call for the referee or anything.
“If they are satisfied with that, then it’s fine. But for us., Will was certainly caught high on the ankle.
On the game itself, he said: “We always knew today’s fixture was going to be difficult.
“We know the quality Celtic have got but obviously the change in management has given the players and home supporters are a real lift because the atmosphere here was a lot better than what it was a week prior.
“When you come here you know you’re going to be starved of possession at times and you have to really show a bit of resilience in and around your penalty area.
“I think today there’s lots of areas within the goals we’ve conceded we could’ve done a lot better. When you give Celtic a two-goal advantage it becomes a mountain to climb.
“When you come here you have to do the basics well defensively, at times you need your goalkeeper to make saves and when you get half chances you’ve got to be clinical and take them, we couldn’t do that today.”
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Engels covered every blade of grass in the win, excelling in a more familiar midfield surrounding.
But what about Celtic’s wingers!? Yang and Sebastian Tounekti offered a non-stop threat all day, directly contributing to goals.
Araujo looks set to keep his place in the team ahead of Anthony Ralston and Colby Donovan if he keeps up this level of performance.
And given Tounekti’s display, Maeda looks set to become the main number nine in place of Johnny Kenny.
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